In just four years I've ridden over 47,000 miles and most of those have been in and around Yorkshire. When you ride that many miles in quite small area, no matter how gorgeous the landscape is, or how smooth the roads are, you're bound to get a little bit bored from time to time as you tap out along the same roads.

My Strava heatmap shows some fairly regular ride locations.

The problem is that living where I do you have pretty much the same route options every week. You head north past Bolton Abbey and into the rolling Yorkshire Dales, or you head east into the Vale of York for something a little more flat. Going west is generally not an option owning the plethora of urban jungle you encounter trying to get to the good roads.

Don't get me wrong, Yorkshire is one of the best places in the world to ride, and has some stunning landscapes to ride through. It's arguable also the reason for the Tour de Yorkshire. Most normal cyclists will never run out of roads to ride and will always be able to find something a little bit different when they want to, but I've ridden so many miles in one county that I generally struggle to find a new road now, or one that I haven't ridden hundreds of times before. There is one rode I've ridden up 535 times and I dare not think how many times the other way.

Most people will never get bored of roads like these.

So as I tip over 2,000 miles in 2017 I'm starting to get a little bit bored of Yorkshire and with that boredom comes less willing to ride sometimes. You end up stuck in a downward spiral of gloom which certainly isn't helped by the fact I can't travel too far at the moment due to needing to study for my exams.

There are some handy distractions in the form of the reliability riders currently, but post exam it's time to spread my wings a little and find some new roads. I have the North Coast 500 booked in for May and maybe even a little trip to Paris, but aside from those trips I'll be looking to head up to the Lakes or Pennines a little bit more to discover some new roads, burn up some new climbs and find a few new cakes.

Bolton Abbey. I probably pass here at least once a week.

Do you ever get bored of your local roads, if so what do you do? Equally, if you're not a million miles away and fancy a long Sunday ride in the spring, get in touch!

For now though, it's back to the pain cave of the only kind I ever use... the revision cave.